“Watching the way thousands of people in his audience could not think for themselves, could not find the courage to allow their ordinary feelings of decency and taste to prevail, I understood better how demagogues are possible.”

— Roger Ebert

Review http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dice-rules-1991 of Dice Rules (17 May 1991)
Reviews, Zero star reviews
Context: Crowds can be frightening. They have a way of impressing the low, base taste upon their members. Watching the way thousands of people in his audience could not think for themselves, could not find the courage to allow their ordinary feelings of decency and taste to prevail, I understood better how demagogues are possible.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Watching the way thousands of people in his audience could not think for themselves, could not find the courage to allo…" by Roger Ebert?

Roger Ebert 264

American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter 1942–2013

Related quotes

“The secret of the demagogue is to appear as dumb as his audience so that these people can believe themselves as smart as he.”

Karl Kraus (1874–1936) Czech playwright and publicist

Variant translation: The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so that they believe they are as clever as he.
Half-Truths and One-And-A-Half Truths (1976)

“Normal: lacking in taste, compassion, understanding, kindness, and ordinary human decency.”

Frank Portman King Dork

Source: King Dork

“It is in the localities where there is least artistic appreciation or intellectual curiosity or cosmopolitan spirit, the places where people have nothing with which to occupy their minds, that we find strongholds of "morality." Where education prevails, people learn to behave themselves as a matter of wisdom and good taste. Those who are sufficiently practiced in the art of living to be able to observe the common decencies without always "watching their step," may sometimes look up from the ground and take a broader view.”

Everett Dean Martin (1880–1941)

Source: The Meaning of a Liberal Education (1926), p. 181

“There are two separate answers…For people in general, I think they should name themselves in whatever way they wish. The flourishing of the gay movement in America is clearly very necessary and the identity that people could proudly lay claim to is crucial. Lives are lost every day because of bigotry in this country. So I think that should not prevail.”

Saffron Burrows (1972) English actress, model and writer

On labelling and sexual orientation in “Saffron Burrows: ‘I’m really proud of my family and who they are’” https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/01/saffron-burrows-married-to-alison-balian-mozart-in-the-jungle in The Guardian (2014 Dec 01)